1. أَلا من لصبٍ كاد من وجده يقضي

    بكى بعضُه مما يلاقي عَلى بعضِ

    Ah, who will help a lovesick man almost dying of his longing?

    One part of him wept over another for what he endured.

  2. تأوَّبه من حب (لمياء) طائفٌ

    فبات على حالٍ من الخبْلِ لا ترضي

    A phantom of love for Lamya visited him by night,

    so he spent the night in a state of madness that brought no joy.

  3. إذا ذُكرتْ لمياءُ ظلّتْ دموعُه

    وأنفاسُه موكولةً ليدِ الفيض

    Whenever Lamya was mentioned, his tears remained—

    and his sighs—entrusted to the hand of the flood.

  4. وأهوى بكفيه لفيه وقلبه

    فأدماهما من شدَّةِ الحرِّ والعضِّ

    And he thrust his hands toward his mouth and heart,

    and bloodied them both with fierce heat and biting.

  5. حذاراً وبقْياً أنْ أريعَ لكاشحٍ

    فيقضي عَلى قلبِ المتيمِ ما يقضي

    For fear, and to spare myself, lest I turn to a spiteful foe,

    who would wreak upon the love-stricken heart whatever he wills.

  6. أعيذ نحولاً منك إن تهدري دمي

    فإنَّ دمي عبءٌ لدى اللهِ في العرض

    I invoke protection for my wasted frame from you, should you spill my blood;

    for my blood is a burden before God at the reckoning.

  7. تحملتُ في حبَّيك ما لو أقلّه

    تحمَّله طودٌ لآذن بالنقض

    For love of you I bore so much that, had even its smallest part

    been borne by a mountain, the mountain would have heralded its collapse.

  8. قريتُ الهوى بالدمعِ حتى نزفته

    فأكرمتُ مثواه بلحميَ والنحض

    I fed love as my guest with tears, until I drained them;

    then honored its dwelling with my flesh and muscle.

  9. تألّبَ أهلي كي يميتوا صبابتي

    فكانوا قذىً بالعينِ لكنني أُغضي

    My family banded together to kill my yearning,

    so they became grit in my eye, yet I close my eyes to them.

  10. وأحفظهم كتمان أمرِكِ فانطوتْ

    صدورُهم مما كتمتُ عَلى بغض

    And concealing your affair enraged them, and so

    their breasts closed over hatred for what I had concealed.

  11. فلو أنَّ إنساناً يكاتم نفسَه

    لكنتِ إلى نفسي بحبِّك لا أُفضي

    So if a person could keep secrets from himself,

    you would be one whose love I would not confide even to my own soul.

  12. رمى اللهُ كفي إنْ أشارتْ بشلّها

    وجازى فعمي إمّا تكلّم بالغضِّ

    May God strike my hand with paralysis if it makes a sign,

    and punish my mouth, if it speaks, by silencing it.

  13. وجدتُ الهوى حلواً عَلى كلِّ علةٍ

    وَحكم ذويك الجور لكنه مرضي

    I found love sweet despite every affliction,

    and your kin's judgment unjust, yet pleasing to me.

  14. هنيئاً لعينيك المنام فإنني

    وَجدتُ سهادي فيك أهنا من الغمض

    May sleep be blissful to your eyes, for I

    have found my sleeplessness over you sweeter than slumber.

  15. لئن ساءني أهلوك ترقبُ زَوْرَتي

    لقد سرَّني أنْ مِزتني بالهوى المحض

    Though your family distressed me by watching for my visit,

    it truly delighted me that you singled me out for pure love.

  16. تعالي نفتهمْ هاربين فإننا

    إذاً لبعيشٍ، ما يُكَدّرُ، ذي خفض

    Come, let us elude them in flight, for we

    would then surely live an untroubled life of ease.

  17. كأني بها قد أشعر الوجد قلبَها

    فمالتْ بها هوجاء كالغُصُنِ الغضِّ

    It is as though I see her: longing has suffused her heart,

    and a wild gust swayed her like a tender branch.

  18. وَأسلس لي بعد الجموح قيادُها

    أصرِّفُه ما شئت بالبسط والقبض

    And after her wild resistance, her rein yielded to me;

    I guide it as I wish, letting it out and drawing it in.